Lemon Roasted Sprout & Beetroot Brown Rice Salad with Tahini Dressing

It’s official, its cold dark, wet and wintery outside and Christmas is on the way. I’ve tried to avoid it for a few weeks, rolling my eyes in despair when advent calendars appeared in mid October, but on my last food shop I couldn’t resist picking up a stalk of brussel sprouts. I know they are the food of the devil for some people, but I love them. If you are not a fan then try turning them into bubble and squeak (mashed potato and cooked cabbage formed into patties and fired) or my personal favourite, cooked, cooled and eaten with houmous – delicious!

Anyway…I was feeling a little under the weather and wanted to make a fresh healthy salad to perk myself up. I’ve recently discovered that roasting brussel sprouts drizzled in lemon juice before putting them in the oven transforms them into the most delicious sticky, tangy, smoky, earthy sprouts you can imagine. The lemon keeps its zing, but looses its sourness becoming sweet and sticky.

To add an extra colour and wellbeing vitamins I also included some roasted beetroot and then shredded raw carrot. My brother gave me a very snazzy peeler on my last birthday, that instead of peeling off strips from veg, the blade has a row of sharp jagged teeth that shred your chosen veg into long thin strips. Very cool!

To mix with my melody of colourful veg I included brown rice and chickpeas and then finished everything off with a fresh tasting tahini yoghurt dressing which added a little nuttiness and creaminess.

The finished salad was delicious. Packed with a great assortment of textures, colours, flavours and of course cold fighting vitamins. I love combining a mix of roasted and raw veg together, it really changes their flavours and textures. The long thin shreds of carrot were almost like shreds of spaghetti that I could twirl round my fork and the zing of sweet lemon was lovely.

I know some people may not be happy with the idea of salad when feeling under the weather but I’ve eaten this for the past 3 days and I swear I’m the only healthy one left in the office! Plus, who says you can’t have your healthy salad and a bit of cake. Best of both worlds.

Lemon Roasted Sprout & Beetroot Brown Rice Salad with Tahini Dressing

Ingredients

300g brussel sprouts

300g cooked beetroot (not vinegared)

Juice of ½ lemon

1 tsp oil

Freshly ground black pepper

80g brown rice

2 large carrots

A few fresh mint leaves

200g canned chickpeas, drained

1 heaped tsp tahini

2 tbsp thick natural yoghurt

2-3 tsp milk, as needed

Method

Preheat the oven to 190C. Line a baking tray with foil.

Remove any dirty or damaged outer leaves from the brussel sprouts and cut them in half, through the stalk, so they remain intact. Arrange them cut side up on the baking tray. Slice the beetroot into wedges and place on the baking tray also.

Squeeze the juice from half a lemon into a small bowl and stir in the oil. Mix together and then drizzle the whole lot over the top of the sprouts and beetroot.

Grind over a little freshly grated pepper and place in the oven to roast for 15 minutes.

Then, rotate the tray and bake for a further 5-10 minutes until the sprouts are lightly golden and tinged around the edges.

Meanwhile, cook the brown rice according to pack instructions, then drain under cold water and place into a large bowl.

Slice or peel the carrot into very fine long shreds. (I had a special peeler to do this, but you could grate it or use a food processor with a similar attachment)

Thinly slice the mint and add to the rice along with the carrot and chickpeas. When slightly cooled, add the sprouts, beetroot and a little extra lemon juice. Mix together well.

In a small bowl, mix the tahini into the natural yoghurt, thinning it down with a few teaspoons of milk until you have a mixture that will drizzle nicely off the end of a spoon.

Serve mounds of the salad and drizzle over some of the tahini dressing.

Eat and enjoy.

Keep the dressing and salad separately in the fridge and dress just before eating each time. Eat within 3 days

Roasted Veg & Feta Salad with Gluten Free Cous Cous

I was recently browsing the gluten free section in my local supermarket and was surprised to see free from cous cous on the shelf. Gluten free cous cous, how could that be? Cous cous is traditionally made from wheat semolina, but on further inspection this gluten free variant turned out to be made from coarsely ground maize. Eager to try it out I bought a box and headed home to experiment.

You cook the cous cous in the same way as the traditional kind, Simply pour over some hot liquid, cover and steam to steep for a few minutes. The grains absorb the water, puff up and become light, moist and fluffy. I was very impressed that this maize cous cous worked the same way. To flavour mine I added some spices and then used vegetable stock combined with some garlic and tomato to add extra flavour. I love the red orange hue this gave the cous cous.

To accompany my cous cous I added a mix of roasted and raw vegetables. I always think a mix of both adds great texture to salads. You have the soft sweetness from the roasted veg and then the fresh crisp and crunch from the raw.

My roasted veg were a colourful mix of peppers and red onion. I love the sweetness and fruitiness that develops from peppers as they are roasted. They are crisp and quite watery when raw but a short bake in the oven and they become soft and intensely flavoured. Very pretty too.

The raw element was a mix of green salad vegetables and thin strips of carrot. I always think the mix of greens together looks so fresh and inviting. When mixed all together and some cubes of feta stirred through, it made for a very fresh and colourful cous cous salad.

How did it taste? I was impressed. The cous cous didn’t go mushy, but kept its individual granular shape and texture. It was soft and light, slightly earthy maybe, but very similar to my memories of real cous cous. The mix of roasted and raw veg added great texture and flavour, while the cheese added a nice creamy, salty note. I think it would have been nice to stir through a big handful of fresh herbs too, but I didn’t have any to hand. It kept me going for lunches for 4 days. Perfect for the warmer summer days.

Roasted Veg & Feta Salad with Gluten Free Cous Cous

Ingredients

1 x each red, yellow & green pepper

1 red onion

2 tsp vegetable oil

150g gluten free ‘cous cous’ (made from maize – seen in Tesco & Asda)

300ml hot vegetable stock

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

¼ tsp cinnamon

3 tbsp sun dried tomato puree

1 clove garlic

1 carrot

2 inch chunk of cucumber

Handful sugarsnap peas

2 spring onions

2 fresh springs rosemary

Zest of ½ lemon

100g feta cheese

Method 

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line a baking tray with foil.

Cut your peppers into 1-2cm squared pieces. Slice the red onion in half and then each half into slices, but leave it assembled as a half, don’t separate out the slices. Place all the veg onto the baking tray, leaving the onion assembled as a whole half, and drizzle over a little oil. (Leaving the sliced onion assembled will prevent it burning on the oven)

Bake for 15 minutes, then give the veg a bit of a stir before baking for a further 10 minutes. Then remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Place the cous cous into a large bowl. Stir through the smoked paprika, cumin and cinnamon. Heat your stock until steaming. Finely grate the garlic into a pulp and stir into the stock along with the tomato puree.

Pour the hot stock over the spiced cous cous, give a quick stir and then cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave to steam for 5-7 minutes so the stock can be absorbed.

Peel your carrot and then use the peeler to cut very thin strips of carrot. Cut the strips into long thin batons using a sharp knife. (You want tiny strips of carrot like you something see in mixed salad bags).

Cut the cucumber into strips and then chop into small pieces. Slice the sugar snap peas and spring onions on a slight diagonal to get long thin pieces.

Return to the cous cous and use a fork to fluff up the grains so they are light and separate from each other.

Stir through the roasted and raw veg. Use your hands to pull the sliced red onion into its individual half moon slices.

Finely chop the fresh rosemary and scatter over the top along with the finely grated zest of the lemon. Give everything a good stir.

Cut the feta into small cubes and stir though gently.

Taste and season accordingly.

Serves 4 as a main meal or great as a side dish

Roasted Cauliflower, Squash & Bean Salad in a Spicy Tomato Dressing

One of my Easter presents from my parents was a large round terracotta coloured Acorn squash. I adore the flavour and earthy sweetness of squash and this was a much better present for me than an Easter egg which they knew I wouldn’t eat (I’m rather picky about my chocolate). One of my favourite ways to enjoy squash is roasted, and as I’ve been so busy recently I decided to turn my squash into a colourful salad I could take for lunch during the week to save those early morning ‘what I can take to eat for lunch?’ moments.

I paired my squash with some florets of cauliflower, a veg that can be a little bland on its own but transforms into something sweet and nutty after a gentle roasting in the oven. I love the bits where the edges have become slightly charred and smoky.

The deep intense earthy sweetness of the squash can handle some quite bold flavours, so I decided to pair it with a spicy sundried tomato dressing for a bit of kick. I used chipotle chili powder and a few shakes of Tabasco to add a smoky chili spiciness. To make it more of a meal I stirred in a tin of mixed beans and some sweetcorn for colour and crunch.

It was quick and easy to prepare and kept me going for 3 days of work time lunches. I loved the mix of flavours, colours and textures. The deep rich squash was sweet and creamy, the lightly charred cauliflower being nutty and crunchy, the dressing tangy, smoky and with a little kick of chili heat that slowly intensified as I ate it, helping to perk me up ready for the afternoon.

Roasted Cauliflower, Squash & Bean Salad in a Spicy Tomato Dressing

Ingredients

½ Acorn squash or butternut squash

½ large head cauliflower

1 tbsp sunflower oil

Freshly ground pepper

4 tbsp sweetcorn

1 x 400g tin mixed beans

3 spring onions

2 tbsp sundried tomato paste

1½ tbsp olive oil

½ tsp chipotle chili powder

Few drops Tabasco

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Remove the seeds from the squash and cut into 2-3cm chunks. You can leave the skin on as its nice to eat once roasted. Cut the cauliflower into florets and then into similar sized chunks to the squash.

Place the squash only (not the cauliflower) onto a large baking tray, drizzle over the 1 tbsp sunflower oil and some freshly ground pepper.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven, add the cauliflower chunks to the squash and mix gently. Return to the oven and bake for a further 20-25 minutes until the squash is softened and the cauliflower lightly roasted.

Tip the roasted veg into a large bowl. Add the sweetcorn and a tin of mixed beans that have been drained and rinsed.

Slice the spring onions and add to the mix.

In a small bowl, combine the sundried tomato paste, olive oil, chili powder and a little Tabasco. Mix well and then pour over the veg. Mix everything together until all the beans and veg are lightly coated in the dressing.

Store in the fridge until required. Give everything a quick stir before serving to remix any dressing.

Serves 4 as a main meal or delicious as an accompaniment to other buffet/picnic/BBQ style things

Roasted Veg & Mixed Bean Salad in Lemon Balsamic Dressing

What do you get if you cross some Portobello mushrooms, a large onion, a parsnip, half a butternut squash and 2 red peppers with an oven?....

YUMMY ROASTED VEG!

If you combine that with some sweetcorn, mange tout and a can of mixed beans tossed with a zingy dressing you get a big bowl of tasty fresh loveliness.

Ok, I’ll admit I’m in a bit of strange mood today, but the colour, aroma and flavour of a mountainous pile of hot roasted veg makes me happy.

I decided to use up all the odds and ends from my fridge to create a tasty bean and veg salad. I love roasting the veg first to make them all soft and caramelised. It really intensifies their flavour and you get those wonderful soft sticky caramelised bits too. I roasted them with some garlic and herbs before mixing with some raw salad veg for a bit of extra crunch. This gets tossed together with a can of mixed beans and dressed in lemon zest, juice and balsamic for a zingy finish.

Fresh and oh so bright and colourful it makes me smile just to look at it. I love all the different textures and flavours. From raw and crunchy to soft and caramelised. A delicious mix of sweet, zingy, earthy, juicy, chewy and crisp. Each mouthful is slightly different depending on what your spear on your fork.

Now it’s finally getting a little sunnier its time to embrace salads again, and with only a little effort these can be much more exciting than a limp lettuce leaf and a slice of weeping cucumber. Hurrah for interesting salads!

Roasted Veg & Mixed Bean Salad in Lemon Balsamic Dressing

Ingredients

3 large Portobello mushrooms

2 red peppers

1 parsnip

½ butternut squash

1 large onion

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp dried oregano

Fresh pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

Large handful mange tout

½ mugful of sweetcorn

400g tin mixed beans

Zest of 1 lemon

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Chop the mushrooms, peppers, and onion into similar sized slices. Cut the butternut squash and parsnip into slightly smaller chunks than the other veg as they are firmer and will take longer to cook. Don’t peel the parsnip or butternut, the skins will cook and soften in the oven and provide a nice texture later on. (Plus it’s all good fibre)

Place the veg onto a large baking tray and scatter over the oregano, garlic powder and a fresh grinding of pepper. Drizzle over the 1tbsp olive oil and mix together with your hands until everything is evenly coated.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Then remove the tray and mix everything together with a spoon. Return to the oven and bake for a further 15-20 minutes until everything is softened.

Leave to cool on the tray until lukewarm.

Scoop the roasted veg into a large bowl, making sure to scrape up any sticky caramelised bits from the base of the tray.

Slice the mange tout into diagonal strips and add to the veg along with the sweetcorn and tin of drained mixed beans.

Grate over the lemon zest, then add the juice, balsamic and extra 1tbsp olive oil. Mix everything together well.

Serve either as a main meal or as an accompaniment to other bits and pieces.

Store in the fridge and make sure you give it a mix whenever you go to eat some, to ensure the dressing doesn’t just sit in the base of the bowl.

Eat and enjoy – preferably in a nice sunny spot, but at your desk tastes good too.

Summer Veg & Bean Salad in a Smoky Tomato Dressing

Now that we have had a couple of weeks of glorious warm and sunny weather it means things like summer salads, wedges of cold quiche and crunchy coleslaw are finally back on the menu. Last weekend I decided to prepare a huge veg and bean salad to have on hand for either work lunches or as part of a quick evening dinner for when it was just too hot to cook.

I’ve discovered that I absolutely love the combination of using both roasted and raw veg in a salad. They add such a wonderful texture and flavour contrast to each other. The roasted veg is sweet, soft and often slightly smokey or charred, while the raw veg is fresh, crisp and crunchy. That together with a mix of creamy starchy beans and a nice dressing makes for a delicious salad. It’s also the perfect tasty way to getting your 5 a day – did you know that beans (baked beans too) count as one of your 5 a day – its true! So think how healthy and delicious a tasty veg and bean salad it.

I’ve also discovered that making a dressing on the baking tray the veg has previously been roasted on, not only helps get those sticky stuck on pieces off the tray, but also adds a wonderful flavour base to the sauce. The sticky juices, edges of stuck on veg and scraps of roasted garlic are a delicious addition to the dressing. For this sauce I did a mix of tomato puree, paprika and chipotle chili powder for a smoky, only faintly spicy warmth.

This salad kept me going for 4 days. It makes a great meal in itself, but is also a lovely accompaniment to a wedge of quiche or on the side of a BBQ meal.

Summer Veg & Bean Salad in a Smoky Tomato Dressing

For Roasting

¼ head cauliflower

2 carrots

¼ fennel bulb

1 large onion

1 yellow pepper

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp dried oregano

For Salad

1 x 400g can mixed beans

¼ head broccoli

2 spring onion

50g mange tout

4 tbsp sweetcorn

2 tbsp broad beans

10 basil leaves

Dressing

1 tbsp tomato puree

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp chipotle chili powder

½ tsp balsamic vinegar

100ml water

1 tsp cornflour

Salt and pepper

Method

Heat the oven to 220C. Have a large baking tray ready, but don’t line it with foil.

Divide the cauliflower into small florets. Peel and slice the carrots into thin batons and chop the fennel, onion and yellow pepper into squares. Place all the veg onto the baking tray.

Finely chop the garlic and sprinkle it over the veg along with the oregano, oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Use your hands to mix everything together until all the veg is coated. Spread into a even layer.

Place in the oven for 20 minutes before giving everything a mix and roasting for a further 10-20 minutes depending on the size of your veg.

Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, cut the broccoli into small florets. Either blanch them in a pan of boiling water or in the microwave until they are slightly softened, but still firm and crisp. Cool under cold water, pat dry and add to a large bowl.

Slice the mange tout on a diagonal, so you get thin long strips. Thinly slice the spring onions. Add them to the bowl along with the sweetcorn and broad beans (you can pod them if you want, but mine were young and sweet so it wasn’t necessary).

Drain and rinse the beans and add them to the bowl along with the cooled roasted veg.

Shred the basil and sprinkle it over the top. Give everything a good mix together.

Your baking tray will probably have some sticky veg juices from roasting, which will form the base of the dressing. Add the tomato puree, paprika and chili powder onto the baking tray. Stir in the water and then place over the hob and heat gently, stirring constantly with a spoon or spatula. Rub the spatula over the base of the pan, scraping up any sticky bits of stuck on veg. Stir in the balsamic vinegar.

If the dressing looks a little thin, dissolve the cornflour in a little cold water and then stir into the dressing. Heat until slightly thickened.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Remove the smokey tomato dressing from the heat and pour over the salad. Toss everything together so that it all gets coated in the dressing.

You can eat ti straight away but it tastes even better is allowed to sit in the fridge for a few hours or even overnight. This allows the veg and beans to absorb some of flavour from the dressing.

Serve as a meal or as an accompaniment to other summery food.

Bean Salad with Lemon & Mint

Hasn’t the weather been glorious this weekend! It was so nice to be able to wander outside without the need for a coat. I loved wandering around the garden, the trees full of blossom, the last few daffodils nodding in the breeze, the grass lush and green, the sun making everything seem bright and vibrant. Such sun evokes visions of BBQ’s and summer picnics and my favourite bit…fresh tasty salads!

After our long spell of cold miserable weather the kitchen was rather short on summer salad ingredients but thanks to the wonderful processes of bottling and canning I was still able to put together a fresh and tasty bean salad for us to enjoy with dinner.

Lemon zest and juice take the place of vinegar for a quick and simple zingy dressing which was jazzed up with a bit of fresh mint and chives from the garden. The smells wafting up as they were picked were wonderful. A little sweetcorn and a few sundried tomatoes added sweetness and sunny colour without the need to visit the shops. Quick, fresh and tasty. Hurrah for sunshine :)

Bean Salad with Lemon & Mint

Ingredients
1 x 400g tin mixed beans (flageolet, kidney beans and cannellini etc)
½ tin sweetcorn (75g)
200g marrowfat or broad beans
6 sundried tomatoes in oil
Zest of ½ lemon
Juice of ½ lemon
Small bunch fresh chives
10 fresh mint leaves
Salt & pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

Method
Drain and rinse the mixed beans, sweetcorn and marrowfat/broad beans. Shell the broad beans by gently squeezing them along the seam and popping them into a bowl. Discard the thin outer shell.
Finely chop the sundried tomatoes, mint leaves and chives using scissors.
Add all the veg, beans and herbs into a bowl and mix to combine.
Add the finely grated zest and juice of half a lemon and drizzle in the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and mix well.
Serve as an accompaniment to other salads and assorted nibbly bits or own its own.

Greek Salad

This is the final salad of the 5 salad theme. I have made Greek salad once before on this blog, but it is such a delicious yet simple dish that I couldn’t resist sharing it with you again. When made with real creamy Greek feta cheese, sun ripened tomatoes, olives, lemon and fresh oregano it captures the taste of Mediterranean summers. It makes use of all the Mediterranean colours too, red, white and green, which look beautiful together.

It’s zesty, juicy, salty, creamy, fresh, crisp, fragrant…in a word delicious. What more could you want on a summers day?

One of the things I like best about this salad is how it matures and develops in flavour when made a few hours or even a day in advance. All the juices slowly seep out of the fruits and vegetables, mingling with the herbs, lemon, olive oil and the saltiness from the feta creating its own dressing. It’s also highly versatile and tastes great eaten on its own or served in pita bread, with baguettes, a topping for a jacket potato or even used as a filling for a tart. Next time you have need of a salad I urge you to give this one a go.

Greek Salad

Ingredients
200g Greek feta cheese
½ cucumber
200g cherry or small tomatoes
1 small red onion
100g black olives
1 lemon, zest only
1 tbsp fresh or 2tsp dried oregano
2½ tbsp olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Method
Start by preparing all your ingredients ready for layering.
Cut the cucumber in half lengthways and scrape out the seeds using a teaspoon to create little boat shapes. Slice them into 5mm thick crescent slices.
Drain the whey from the feta cheese and pat dry using some kitchen roll before cutting into small cubes. Slice the tomatoes into halves or quarters, size dependant, along with the black olives.
Peel, cut in half and very thinly slice the red onion, as thin as you can. Finely grate the zest of the lemon onto a chopping board for ease of sprinkling later. Do the same with the oregano.
Arrange a third of the tomatoes, feta, olives, red onion and cucumber over the base of your serving dish. Scatter over a third of the lemon zest, oregano and a light dusting of freshly milled pepper.
Drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil over the top and repeat the process with another third of the ingredients, followed by another spoonful of oil and the rest of the ingredients. Drizzle with a little extra oil and cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.
I find Greek salad tastes best if made a few hours or even a day before you need it to allow time for the flavours to develop and meld. All the vegetables release their juices and create their own delicious lemony, herby, fresh tasting dressing if left for half a day or more.
Serves 6 – 8 as an accompaniment. Perfect served with a picnic or BBQ.

Here’s a photo of all the five salads together – so colourful and summery! Now we just need the warmer weather back again to enjoy them.

Potato Salad with Mustard Dressing

Salad number 4 of 5. This is such a simple but delicious salad, well its not really a salad apart from you would serve it with other salads. I always think this is a bit odd, as even the potato salads you get covered in mayonnaise - that have never seen a salad leaf in their life is called ‘salad’ and potatoes don’t even count as a fruit or veg portion – oh well just one of those things. Anyway, this salad is lighter and more summery than a mayonnaise potato salad, which I often find a little rich. It makes use of a very simple mustard dressing and is also tossed with some mustardy, garlicky scented herbs such cress and chives, which work brilliantly with potatoes without being overpowering. The streaks of green they add make it look even more appetising too.

I’ve used wholegrain mustard for this dressing as it’s slightly milder than a Dijon mustard and often more vinegary, which works so well with potatoes, sort of like adding vinegar to your chips I suppose. I also enjoy how the whole mustard seeds pop when you bite down on them, releasing their mustard pungency. However, I’m sure other types of mustard would work well too, so use whichever one is your favourite. The most important thing to remember when making this salad is to add the dressing to the potatoes while they are still hot, as this allows the vinegary, mustard, garlic flavours to be absorbed into the potatoes. Makes a great addition to a picnic or BBQ spread and can be eaten hot or cold.

Potato Salad with Mustard Dressing

Ingredients
400g new potatoes
2 spring onions
1 tbsp chopped fresh chives
Small handful of fresh cress
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
½ tbsp olive oil
½ tbsp water

Method
Wash the potatoes, but there is no need to peel them. Cut any particularly large ones in half but leave the rest whole. Boil them until tender.
Meanwhile, finely slice the chives and spring onions into 5mm pieces and set aside.
In a small bowl, mix the mustard, olive oil and water together to form a runny paste.
Once the potatoes have cooked, drain them and then return them to the hot pan. While still very hot, pour over the mustard dressing and add the chives, cress and spring onions. Replace the lid on the pan and toss everything together to ensure the potatoes get coated in the dressing. Leave the lid on until the potatoes have cooled down slightly, about 15-20 minutes, before serving warm. Also tastes delicious cold the next day.
Serves 6-8

NOTE: Adding the dressing to the potatoes while they are still hot is important, as this allows them to absorb all the flavours from the mustard and herbs.

Moroccan Style Chickpea Salad

Chickpeas are not just for houmous, they can also be the building block for some great salads. Their soft and subtle flavour works well with other foods while easily absorbing any flavours or dressings you throw at it. In this instance it was intense sun dried tomatoes, smoky paprika and fiery harissa with just a hint of cumin. All these flavours work together well and remind me of my holiday to Morocco a few years ago, when the air was hot, and filled with the scent of smoke and spices.

I kept with the Moroccan theme by roasting aubergine, pepper and red onion to accompany the chickpeas. I also added in some sweetcorn, which I admit is not very traditional, but it added a little crunch and brightness to the dish.

Adding fruit, usually dried fruits, to savoury dishes is also very common in this culture, typically apricots, dates and prunes. I wanted to add some apricots to my salad and decided to use fresh, rather than dried ones. However, when I was shopping for ingredients I wasn’t able to find any, but I did come across some very nice smelling peaches, so I decided to use those instead. This turned out to be a very good substitution as they added a fruity sweetness to the dish without it being obviously fruit, particularly once it had absorbed some of the red dressing.

This was probably my family’s favourite of the five salads I made. It was sweet, spicy, smoky, fruity with a wonderful mix of colours and textures from the vegetables. After the first few hours everything ended up being glazed with an orange-red hue thanks to the smoky spicy dressing. This is the kind of salad that would bring sunshine to your day even if it’s raining outside.

Moroccan Style Chickpea Salad

Ingredients
1 aubergine
1 x 400g tin chickpeas
1 red pepper
1 red onion
4 tbsp sweetcorn
2 ripe peaches (or apricots)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp sundried tomato paste (not the same as tomato puree)
2 tsp harissa paste
Salt and pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Dice the aubergine, red onion and pepper into 2cm cubes and place on a baking tray.
Mix the cumin and paprika with 1 tablespoon of the oil and drizzle over the prepared vegetables. Toss gently to ensure an even coating.
Bake for 40-50 minutes until softened and roasted. Stir after the first 20 minutes to ensure an even baking. Once baked, set aside to cool slightly while you prepare the rest of the salad.
Drain the chickpeas and place into a large bowl along with the sweetcorn. Peel the furry skin off the peaches and cut into small cubes, add to the bowl with the chickpeas. Mix in the roasted veg and any of the juices collected on the tray.
Mix the remaining tablespoon of oil with the sun dried tomato paste, harissa and a little salt and pepper to season if desired.
Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well. Cover and leave the flavours to mingle and marinate for at least two hours before serving.
Serves 6

Pea, Bean & Mint Salad

This is the second of the five salads I made recently. I love the combination of lots of different peas and beans together. All the different shades of pastel green and creamy coloured beans are so pretty, and give a mingling of textures and flavours, very fresh and vibrant.

The broad beans, flageolets and marrowfat peas are soft and creamy while the asparagus and petit pois are naturally sweet with a slight al-dente bite. There is no need to cook the peas in any way; they are blanched before freezing and as they are so small that they soon thaw out. The mint and lemon infused olive oil is all the dressing they need and the two flavours complement the sweet peas and beans perfectly.

If you want to make the salad more substantial, it also tastes delicious with a few small cubes of feta cheese mixed in, but as this was one of many salads on offer, I didn’t think it was necessary this time.

Pea, Bean & Mint Salad

Ingredients
100g frozen petit pois peas
200g flageolet beans, tinned
100g broad beans, tinned
100g Marrowfat peas
6-8 spears of asparagus
2 tbsp fresh mint
2 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp coarse sea salt
½ lemon, zest

Method
Steam or blanch the asparagus until it is slightly softened but still retains some crunch, about 2-4 minutes depending on size.
Remove the outer shell/skin from the broad beans. Do this by making a tiny slit in the top of the pod where the shell joins together, then squeeze the base of the bean and it should pop out of the skin.
Place the broad beans, frozen peas (no need to defrost, they thaw very quickly), flageolet beans and marrowfat peas into a bowl. Chop the blanched asparagus into 1inch chunks and add to the bowl.
Chop the mint and grind in a pestle and mortar with the sea salt and olive oil to infuse the oil with the mint.
Drizzle the minty oil (and the mint leaves) over the salad and finely grate over the zest of half a lemon. Mix gently, cover and allow to sit for at 2 hours before serving to so the flavours can infuse.
Serves 6 as a side dish

Green Vegetable Salad with Roasted Beetroot & Goats Cheese

With the sunshine and warmer weather finally making an appearance it initiates the start of a new range of dishes – summery salads! Salads can be dull and boring, but a salad constructed with a little care and attention can easily be the star of the meal. The weekend before last when we had such lovely weather I decided to make some salads for the family to enjoy with dinner. I had so many ideas fighting for attention in my head that I went a little salad crazy and ended up making 5 different ones! Opps. Not that it mattered as it meant we then had leftovers for lunches for the next few days – and some salads seem to get better after a day or two when all the flavours have had time to mingle and marinate together. Now the sunshine is back again, for the next few posts I’m intending to share the summery salads with you. Allow me to introduce the first one - Green Vegetable Salad with Roasted Beetroot & Goats Cheese.

This is a wonderfully fresh and vibrant summer salad. Some of the veg is steamed to maintain its freshness while others are roasted to give a more intense depth of flavour. The hot veg is then added to fresh baby spinach leaves which allow them to wilt ever so slightly without going all soft and mushy. Some very fresh herb rolled goats cheese is then scattered on top, in striking contrast to the vibrant green, red and orange of the vegetables as well as being wonderfully creamy against their fresh crispness. The juices from the roasted veg are mixed with a simple balsamic dressing and a scattering of lemon zest to really bring the salad alive.

I love how the following day the goats cheese took on a mottled effect from the beetroots juices and the dressing. Simple, summery and oh so tasty.

Green Vegetable Salad with Roasted Beetroot & Goats Cheese

Ingredients
125g very young soft goats cheese (the one rolled in herbs is best)
4 cooked beetroot (not pickled)
1 carrot
2 courgettes
½ head broccoli
200g fresh young spinach
6 spears of asparagus
1 lemon – zest
3 sprigs lemon thyme
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Peel the carrot and cut into 1cm slices and the courgette into 1-2cm slices. Cut the beetroot into quarters or eights if they are very big. Arrange on a baking tray and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the oil and the sprigs of lemon thyme.
Bake in the oven for 45 minutes until softened and golden brown. Stir and mix about half way through to ensure even cooking.
Meanwhile, cut the broccoli into florets and slice the asparagus into 3 on the diagonal to make long spear shaped pieces. Steam the broccoli and the asparagus for 3-4 minutes until softened and just tender, you want a bit of bite to remain.
Arrange the spinach leaves in the base of a large serving bowl. Scatter over the steamed broccoli and asparagus and the hot roasted veg. (This will make the spinach leaves wilt slightly and catch any juices given off from the veg.)
Grate over the zest of the lemon and toss gently.
Tear the goats cheese into small pieces and scatter over the top of the salad.
Whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt, pepper and the balsamic vinegar together and drizzle over the top of the salad.
Serve with other salads or BBQ/picnic food and crusty bread.
Serves 6

Go with the Grain: Festive Rice and Spelt Salad

I was invited to a friend Christmas get together where we swapped cards and presents over lunch. I am fortunate that a number of my friends also enjoy cooking so we usually operate on a bring and share lunch. I was asked to bring a salad and my first reaction was “that’s not very exciting” but then I thought why not add some Christmas colours and flavours and made it a fun festive salad, thus this salad was born.

I had no recipe in mind and instead set off browsing the shop shelves trying to decide what I considered to be festive flavours which would work in a salad. Strangely enough my first thoughts were cinnamon and cardamom and so the idea of doing a spiced rice salad was born. I then thought of adding some fruit and settled on dried cranberries and pomegranate seeds – both gorgeous red colours and very festive. Nest into the basket was some pistachios, for their wonderful mottled green colour and some spring onions for freshness and crunch. I decided to add orange zest to complement the cranberries but on my way to the shelf I passed a stand of clementines which seemed much more festive and so I used that instead. I decided to see if I could get some wild rice too to add a different texture and discovered a packet of spelt grain whose nutty flavour appealed instantly, so in it went. I then thought about some sort of dressing to combine everything together and decided on a simple mix of olive oil and a little honey to add a little sweetness and moisture while still allowing the other flavours to be the main star. I also picked up a packet of fresh mint, which I have discovered goes wonderfully with pomegranate. So armed with my colourful, albeit a little odd mix of ingredients I went home and started creating my salad.

As cardamom can be quite a strong spice I decided to add the pods to the water the grains cooked in and then fish them out afterwards to allow the flavour to subtly permeate into the grains without being overpowering. This worked well and produced a faint fragrant overtone to the grains. I have never added pomegranate seeds to a salad before, but I have seen Nigella do it a number of times and I felt quite the domestic goddess as I sprinkled them in – all shiny and jewel-like.

Once finished I wasn’t at all sure how it would taste, but in my head all the flavours went together and the gorgeous mix of glossy reds and shades of green looked so beautiful together that I was more excited than concerned.

I tried my first spoonful and couldn’t help grinning. My mouth filled with so many layers of flavour, but each came in their own wave and didn’t seem to contradict the other ingredients. The first taste was of a lightly spiced earthy grain but then the sweetness of dressing and clementine flavours appearance, which were then balanced out by my biting down on the tartness of the cranberries and a burst of earthy pomegranate juice all finished with a hint of mint and a zingy sensation. Success! It didn’t just taste good, it tasted fabulous, so fresh and vibrant and definitely festive. It got a lot of positive comments at the lunch party, not everyone liked the pomegranate seeds, but you can’t please everyone. Either way as far as salad is concerned this ones a keeper!

Festive Rice and Spelt Salad
Ingredients
100g long grain rice
100g spelt grain
100g pomegranate seeds (a fresh pre-prepared pack is ideal)
65g pistachios with shell (50g minus shell)
50g dried cranberries
2 spring onions
1 clementine, zest and juice
6 large mint leaves
4 cardamom pods
¼ tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tsp runny honey

Method
Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Crack the cardamom pods so that the inside seeds are exposed and add to the pan of water. Do not crush completely as you will want to fish them out later. Find out how long your spelt takes to cook (usually around 50minutes) and how long the rice takes to cook (often 12-15 minutes).
Add the spelt to the pan of boiling water and cook on a simmer. Add the rice to the same pan once the spelt has 12-15 minutes left to cook, so that both grains will be cooked and ready at the same time.
Once cooked, drain the water from the pan and cover the grains with lots of cold water to stop the cooking process and help it cool down quickly.
Meanwhile, prepare the remaining salad ingredients. Remove the pistachios from their shell and roughly chop so that some nuts are in pieces while others remain whole.
Place the dried cranberries into a small bowl and add the zest and juice from the clementine. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds which will enable the cranberries to rehydrate, plump up and become glossy. Slice the spring onions into small pieces.
Place the cooled rice and spelt into a large serving bowl, removing the cardamom pods. Add the pistachios, orange infused cranberries, pomegranate seeds and spring onions.
Finely shred the mint and add to the bowl along with the cinnamon.
Mix the honey and olive oil together until well combined. Drizzle over the salad and mix everything together well ensuring all the ingredients are evenly distributed and covered in a little of the dressing. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serves 4 as a main or 8 as a starter. Store any leftovers in the fridge.